The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Survival fight as important as cup glories insists May
He’s been part of three cup wins with St Johnstone. But Stevie May believes the fight to extricate the Perth club from their Premiership plight carries significance that stands alongside his era-defining glories.
And, back in the starting line-up for the 1-1 draw with Livingston at the weekend, May led from the front with a display full of the endeavour the situation demands.
“This club means a lot to me, so I want to be involved,” said the former Scotland international.
“I want to be affecting things and playing my part in us staying in the league.
“This is as important as anything I’ve been involved in. Murray Davidson touched on it last week.
“He’s been here a long time and all the time I have been here too we have never been in this situation.
“We’ve been bottom at times but we have always managed to do enough to get our way out of it.
“This season is tougher than ever before, so it’s about grinding out results now. Working hard and wanting it more is going to be a big part of it.
“If we’re going to stay in the league, we’ll have to bring that to every game.
“If we are in the play-offs, the team we play will be desperate to get up, so we will have to match that desire and do everything we can.”
The performance and point at Livingston restored positivity in the Perth dressing room, according to May, even though they were just a few minutes away from winning.
“We are in a far better place than we were a few months ago when we were bottom of the league,” he said.
“We managed to get ourselves off the bottom, so the next stage now is securing the play-off and getting through that.
“We have worked hard to get off the foot of the table.
“There have been a few bumps – the Celtic game and the St Mirren game last weekend are the two that stick out.
“But the form in the last few months would have us mid-table in the league, so there has been some good moments.
“We had to bring a performance after last weekend and I felt we did that. It would have been nice to get the win but the point takes us further away from the bottom.
“The bigger picture is that we’re in a better position now than we were before the game, so we have to take it.”
May’s recall broke up the Callum Hendry-Nadir Ciftci partnership that Callum Davidson has favoured recently.
The former Preston man has had to be patient for his chance.
“It’s frustrating when you’re out of the team, so it was good to get back in,” he said.
“I have been working hard in training and feel like I have been doing well.
“I haven’t let it affect me. I have been making sure I’m fit and ready to go.
“We need everyone together and pulling in the right direction. So for me it was about waiting for that chance and taking it when it came around.”
May added: “Callum and I have played well together in the past. He has been brilliant since he came back. He’s contributed loads to us as a team. We can complement each other.
“He’s someone I enjoy playing with and hopefully we can do well for the team in the games coming up.”
Callum Davidson made three alterations after last weekend’s poor 1-0 defeat at home to St Mirren – with May, Dan Cleary and Cammy MacPherson all coming in.
It was the away side who almost went in front within the first 30 seconds, as Melker Hallberg sent in a dangerous low cross but Callum Hendry could only clip over from six yards.
Livingston were next to go close in an entertaining opening five-minute period, with Joel Nouble skewing a shot wide before May shot straight at Ivan Konovalov following a swift counterattack for the visitors.
Konovalov was called into action again just after the half-hour mark, clawing away a dangerous Cleary flick-on from a Shaun Rooney long throw.
The tireless May then went down in the box as he chased a stray ball alongside Ayo Obileye but referee Willie Collum was uninterested, much to the frustration of Saints manager Davidson.
As the momentum continued to swing back and forth, Saints put together their best move of the game, which culminated in May shooting just wide from the edge of the area as the teams went in level at the break.
Livingston should have gone ahead in the 56th minute as Obileye’s ball put Bailey clean through on goal but Clark made a crucial save with his foot.
Livi boss David Martindale introduced Alan Forrest who almost made an instant impact, cutting in from the left and curling a right-foot shot inches wide of the far post.
Moments later, it was the away side’s substitutes who combined to make the difference.
After good work down the left from Rooney, James Brown sent in a delicious, inswinging cross which was met by Glenn Middleton, whose header beat Konovalov despite his best efforts.
That looked to have earned the away side all three points but they were not able to hold on.
In the 90th minute, Scott Pittman’s header was brilliantly saved once again by Clark, but he was unable to prevent Jack Fitzwater from firing home the rebound as Livi levelled.
There was still time for St Johnstone to come close to a winner but Konovalov kept out Hendry and Middleton in added time.